Watchman Newsletter

Egypt unrest: Crowds celebrate Mubarak’s departure

BBC News (Link) (February 12, 2011)

Thousands of Egyptians still occupy central Tahrir Square in the Egyptian capital, a day after the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak.

People have been cleaning the square as the army removes some barricades, even though tanks remain deployed.

After some 30 years in power, Mr Mubarak was forced out by 18 days of protests, handing power to the high command of the armed forces.

The council has said it remains committed to Egypt’s foreign treaties.

Correspondents say it will be seen as reassuring in Israel, which has a peace treaty with its largest Arab neighbour.

US President Barack Obama called Egypt an inspiration, but said it must now move to civilian and democratic rule.

Friday Flotsam: Webcams, busy Central America, Iceland fights back and more!

Big Think (Link) - Erik Klemetti: Eruptions (February 11, 2011)

Where did the week go? Some news!

Webcams: Eruptions readers have been keeping an eye on a lot of volcanoes lately - and it sounds like it has paid off. A few of the webcams where activity was spotted were Kirishima (see below) and Sakurajima along with lava lake in the Halema`uma`u Crater. Speaking of Kirishima, the Japanese volcano is still impressing us with ash plumes from this new explosive period, although there is some worry that people are getting complacent about this still potentially dangerous eruption. Keep your eyes peeled because you never know what might be around the corner at some of these volcanoes. Remember, you can find most of the volcano webcams on the planet here. And if the webcams get boring, try watching a pile of volcanic eruption videos, be sure to check out this site suggested by Eruptions readers.

Temple Institute Reveals First Blueprints For Portion Of The Third Temple

Prophecy News Watch (Link) - The Temple Institute (February 11, 2011)

In his recent USA speaking engagement tour, (January 2011), Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute revealed to the public for the very first time detailed construction plans for the Chamber of Hewn Stone: the seat of the Great Sanhedrin which is a central component of the Holy Temple complex on the Temple Mount. These complete and highly intricate plans constitute the first stage of an historical undertaking of the Temple Institute: the drafting of blueprints for the entire Holy Temple complex. These plans, drawn up by a top Israeli architectural firm hired by the Temple Institute, take into account the specific requirements of the Sanhedrin assembly hall, known historically as the Chamber of Hewn Stone. At the same time these plans incorporate modern technological infrastructure necessary to a twenty-first century facility: this includes internet ports, wireless communications systems, computer data storage, elevators, air conditioning and underground parking. All these modern amenities, and many more, have been integrated into the Sanhedrin structure without compromising the integrity of the great assembly’s physical or spiritual character.

No land can be prepared, no foundation can be laid, no wall can be erected without a detailed architectural plan first being drawn up, approved by engineers and presented to the appointed site manager. The plans you are viewing on this page fulfill every requirement necessary for the immediate commencement of work on this aspect of the Holy Temple complex.

Column One: As the lies come crashing down

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Caroline B. Glick (February 11, 2011)

Confronting The Obama administration’s assault on reason in the interest of ideological faithfulness, Israel is faced with very few good options.

In the midst of the political turmoil engulfing Egypt and much of the Arab world, last month’s revelation that Pakistan has doubled the size of its nuclear arsenal over the past four years has been largely ignored.

Nuclear proliferation analysts from the Federation of American Scientists and the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) assess that since 2006, Pakistan has increased the size of its nuclear arsenal from 30-60 atomic bombs to approximately 110. That makes Pakistan the world’s fifth largest nuclear power ahead of Britain and France.

As for delivery systems, according to The Washington Post, Pakistan has developed nuclear-capable land- and air-launched cruise missiles. Its Shaheen II missile, with a range of 2,400 kilometers, is about to go into operational deployment.

Strong quake jolts Chile; magnitude 6.8

Yahoo! News (Link) - AP - Eva Vergara (February 11, 2011)

A magnitude-6.8 earthquake struck central Chile Friday, centered in almost exactly the same spot where last year’s magnitude-8.8 quake spawned a tsunami and devastated coastal communities.

Electricity and phone service were disrupted and thousands of people fled to higher ground following Friday’s quake, but the government quickly announced that there was no risk of a tsunami, and there were no reports of damage or injuries.

In the following hours, a dozen aftershocks ranging from magnitude-3.9 to magnitude-6.3 shook the seismically active area.

President Sebastian Pinera appealed for calm and praised his government and Chileans in general for responding quickly.

“Today we’re better prepared,” Pinera said. “I think we’ve learned the lesson of Feb. 27, 2010.”

Mubarak slammed U.S. in phone call with Israeli MK before resignation

Haaretz (Link) - Reuters (February 11, 2011)

Hosni Mubarak had harsh words for the United States and what he described as its misguided quest for democracy in the Middle East in a telephone call with an Israeli lawmaker a day before he quit as Egypt’s president.

The legislator, former cabinet minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, said on TV Friday that he came away from the 20-minute conversation on Thursday with the feeling the 82-year-old leader realized “it was the end of the Mubarak era.”

“He had very tough things to say about the United States,” said Ben-Eliezer, a member of the Labor Party who has held talks with Mubarak on numerous occasions while serving in various Israeli coalition governments.

“He gave me a lesson in democracy and said: ‘We see the democracy the United States spearheaded in Iran and with Hamas, in Gaza, and that’s the fate of the Middle East,’” Ben-Eliezer said.

“‘They may be talking about democracy but they don’t know what they’re talking about and the result will be extremism and radical Islam,’” he quoted Mubarak as saying.

International Monetary Fund director Dominique Strauss-Kahn calls for new world currency

The Telegraph UK (Link) - Andrew Trotman (February 10, 2011)

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, has called for a new world currency that would challenge the dominance of the dollar and protect against future financial instability.

“Global imbalances are back, with issues that worried us before the crisis - large and volatile capital flows, exchange rate pressures, rapidly growing excess reserves - on the front burner once again,” Strauss-Kahn said. “Left unresolved, these problems could even sow the seeds of the next crisis.”

“When we worry about the deficiencies of the international monetary system, we are mostly worrying about volatility,” he added. There is “a sense that money sometimes flows around the globe in too-volatile a fashion and that countries need a more stable, more predictable external environment in order to prosper,” he said.

He suggested adding emerging market countries’ currencies, such as the yuan, to a basket of currencies that the IMF administers could add stability to the global system.

Obama, Soros create ‘Palestine’

WorldNet Daily (Link) - Aaron Klein with research by Brenda J. Elliott (February 10, 2011)

In partnership with a government fund initiated by Barack Obama, philanthropist and billionaire activist George Soros is investing in a private equity company that just launched in the Palestinian territories.

The company, Siraj Fund Management Company, says it was created “for the sole purpose of managing investment funds in Palestine.”

The new company’s website repeatedly refers to what it calls the “country” of “Palestine.” There is, however, no such country as Palestine. Siraj is apparently referring to territories controlled by the Palestinian Authority.

“Siraj has plans to launch future funds focused on the Palestinian market thereby contributing to the sustainable development of the country,” states the website.

This marks the latest involvement of Soros in Middle Eastern affairs.

Wired and Shrewd, Young Egyptians Guide Revolt

The New York Times (Link) - David D. Kirkpatrick (February 9, 2011)

They were born roughly around the time that President Hosni Mubarak first came to power, most earned degrees from their country’s top universities and all have spent their adult lives bridling at the restrictions of the Egyptian police state — some undergoing repeated arrests and torture for the cause.

They are the young professionals, mostly doctors and lawyers, who touched off and then guided the revolt shaking Egypt, members of the Facebook generation who have remained mostly faceless — very deliberately so, given the threat of arrest or abduction by the secret police.

Now, however, as the Egyptian government has sought to splinter their movement by claiming that officials were negotiating with some of its leaders, they have stepped forward publicly for the first time to describe their hidden role.

There were only about 15 of them, including Wael Ghonim, a Google executive who was detained for 12 days but emerged this week as the movement’s most potent spokesman.

Global Stock Exchanges Are Headed for Major Consolidation

CNBC (Link) - Reuters (February 9, 2011)

Germany’s Deutsche Boerse is in advanced talks to buy NYSE Euronext, and the London Stock Exchange has agreed to buy Canadian stock market operator TMX, as exchanges globally look for ways to boost their markets and cut costs.

Together, Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext would dominate exchange trading in continental Europe. The companies said they could cut costs by 300 million euros ($408.7 million) a year.

The combined group would have headquarters in New York and Frankfurt, with Deutsche Boerse shareholders holding about 60 percent of the combined company and NYSE shareholders holding the rest. The companies disclosed their talks on Wednesday.

“I think these consolidations are the wave of the future—with aspects we haven’t even seen yet—once the derivatives markets are required to be more like exchanges,” former SEC Chairman Harvey Pitt told CNBC. “Securities regulators should welcome these consolidations, but competition regulators may be concerned.”

Not everyone was so enthused about it, however.

‘Reviving Sanhedrin may help bridge gaps with Diaspora’

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Gil Shefler (February 9, 2011)

Powerful forces are tearing the Jewish world asunder, many observers warn. Some say the root cause is Israel’s alleged increasingly illiberal policies, others point toward assimilation or a weakening sense of Jewish identity in the Diaspora.

Either way, almost everyone agrees there is a problem. What, then, can prevent Israel and the Diaspora from drifting apart? One creative proposal tabled at the Herzliya Conference on Monday suggests resurrecting an ancient Jewish body that hasn’t met, at least in a universally recognized form, in more than 1,600 years.

According to a joint proposal penned by Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, academics Tommy Steiner, Maaike van der Brugghen and Lea Landman, a new Jewish council based on the Sanhedrin – a council of Jewish jurists that met in Judea until it was dissolved by the Roman emperor in 358 CE – could provide a better “framework” for discourse between Jews in Israel and those around the world. In its proposed reincarnation, the Sanhedrin consisting of Diaspora and Israelis leaders would advise Israeli politicians – although it would not have a direct part in the decision-making process.

Egypt: Is it the People’s Fault?

Israel National News (Link) - Daniel Greenfield (February 8, 2011)

The polls show that a unanimous majority wants an Islamic state and a bare majority wants democracy. A democratic majority supports murdering people in the name of Islam. Obama, wake up.

A thousand talking heads and neo-conservative experts on the region assure us that a bright future stretches out before Egypt like a magic carpet. “Democracy,” “Freedom,” “Representative Government” are the buzzwords that trickle wetly out of their printers. All cynicism is disdained and skepticism swept into the dustbin. History is being made here. But the tricky thing about history is that it isn’t a point on a map, but a continuous wave. Like the tide, history is made and remade over and over again, formed and repeated, washed and beached on the shores of time.

Mubarak is the problem, we are told. And he certainly is their problem. The pesky 82 year old air force officer standing in the way of their dreams of a new Egypt. If not for him, Egypt would be a liberal model for the region. Just like Gaza, Lebanon and Iraq. But is it the dictator or the people who are the problem? The protesters are unified by a desire to push out Mubarak. But what do they actually stand for, besides open elections.

59 percent of Egyptians want democracy and 95 percent want Islam to play a large part in politics. (As Egypt has approximately 5 percent of Christians that means 100 percent of Muslims want Islam to play a large part in politics.) 84 percent believe apostates should face the death penalty.

Who Shut Off the Lights? Bring Back the Incandescent Lightbulb

Big Government (Link) - Adam Sparks (February 8, 2011)

The enviros have succeeded in destroying both the environment and jobs with their radical legislative successes. First, it was their complete stranglehold on our nation’s energy policy: no new nuclear plants, a complete ban on exploring for natural gas domestically or for drilling for oil near our coasts. This forced us into the more hazardous and more expensive deep water drilling. This time they’ve succeeded with the outlawing of the lowly light bulb. The incandescent light bulb, the one Thomas Alva Edison invented in 1879, will be put to death in the US due to federal energy regulations. A law passed quietly in 2007 will be phased in next year with the final sales of incandescents occurring in 2014. Don’t blame Obama, this was done under George W. Bush’s watch.

The liberals, who always cry for “choice,” don’t want to give the American consumer choice in choosing light bulbs. They’re apparently only pro-choice with baby killing. Otherwise, they will tell you just how to live your life, thank you. The banning of the incandescent light bulb meant that General Electric, the largest maker of light bulbs, had to close all their plants in the US. The last factory closed in Winchester, VA. in September of last year.  The jobs are now all in China. They’re the largest makers of the compact fluorescent bulbs, CFLs.  They’re not made here, in part, because they’re too hazardous.

Ironically, the CFL’s contain mercury, a highly toxic substance. A broken bulb can create an environmental nightmare and according to Scientific American at least one case of mercury poisoning has been linked to these bulbs.

Undermining Allies

National Review Online (Link) - Thomas Sowell (February 8, 2011)

While everyone’s attention seems to be focused on the crisis in Egypt, a bombshell revelation about the administration’s foreign policy in Europe has largely gone unnoticed.

The British newspaper the Telegraph has reported that part of the price which President Obama paid to get Russia to sign the START treaty limiting nuclear arms, was revealing to the Russians the hitherto secret size of the British nuclear arsenal. This information came from the latest WikiLeaks documents.

To betray vital military secrets of this country’s oldest, most steadfast, and most powerful ally, behind the back of the British government, is something that should set off alarm bells. Following in the wake of earlier betrayals of prior American commitments to put a nuclear shield in Eastern Europe, and the undermining of Israel and calculated insults to its prime minister, this pattern raises serious, and perhaps almost unthinkable, questions about the Obama administration’s foreign policy.

Russian volcano activity causes global concern

Balkans.com (Link) - BNE (February 7, 2011)

Now the world has something else to grip about when it comes to Russia - the weather.

A string of volcanoes on Russia’s eastern seaboard of Kamchatka have been unusually active for the last six months. The dust they threw up diverted winds in the Arctic, pushing cold air over Europe and North America and causing the unusually cold winter this year, say scientists.

The volcanoes (160 in total, of which 29 are active) are still on the go and could create more problems this year, depressing harvests around the world just as global food prices soar and culminating in a second freezing winter next Christmas.

The eruptions have come at the worst possible time. The Pacific Ocean has already been cooled by the so-called La Nina - which contributed to the deluge in Australia and Tropical Cyclones - while at the same time the Atlantic Ocean is warmer than usual, say climatologists. Erste Bank says the combination of this means the weather forecast for the first quarter of this year is extreme, which will hit both the agricultural and mining sectors, sending already spiking prices up even faster. “These climatic conditions reduce the outlooks of harvest for agricultural commodities (last year was also bad) and prevent the mining of commodities like coal,” says Erste. “The extreme weather will probably culminate in the [first quarter] - this is the reason why the prices of commodities will be influenced by this weather... then an acceleration of consumer inflation... There are also problems for transport due to strong storms.”

Understanding Egypt: History of the Caliphate (part one)

The Blaze (Link) - Scott Baker - Joel Richardson (February 6, 2011)

Editor’s note: The Blaze is featuring some guest posts to help our readers gain a deeper understanding of the situation in Egypt.  In this post, Joel Richardson looks at the Caliphate concept in historical context.

Historically, Caliph (Khalifa) is the title given to those individuals who succeeded Muhammad after his death as the leader of the Muslims.  The Arabic word khalifa means successor, and the full title khalifatu rasulil-lah means “successor to the messenger of Allah.” The Caliph is to be the political, military and administrative leader of all Muslims. The Caliph is the Pope, President and General of the Islamic world all wrapped into one. The office and government of the Caliph is known as the Caliphate (Khilafat). The Caliphate is the only form of government fully sanctioned within early Islamic theology.  The purpose of the Caliphate is to govern the Islamic world under the Islamic Shariah law. Caliphs were also referred to with other titles such as Imam al-Ummah (leader of the Muslim community) or  Amir al-Mu’minin (Commander of the Faithful).

From Muhammad’s death until the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, various Caliphates or dynasties ruled the Islamic world. The most significant Caliphates in historical order were the Rashidun, the Abbasid, the Umayyid, and finally the Ottoman. At times in Muslim history, there have even been rival claimant Caliphs in different parts of the Muslim world. Although the purpose of the Caliphate is to unify all Muslims worldwide, rarely has this genuinely been the case.  Islamists however often downplay this fact and instead portray the first thirteen hundred years of Islam through a highly idealized lens: